Movie Review: Dune — Denis Villeneuve

A potential rival to Star Wars

Quick Summary

The story of Paul Atreides, a young man as gifted as he is brilliant, destined to know an extraordinary destiny that is totally beyond him. If he is to preserve the future of his family and his people, he must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe — the only one that provides the world’s most precious resource, capable of increasing humanity’s power tenfold. As evil forces vie for control of this planet, only those who can overcome their fear will survive…

My Thoughts

Dune represents today the hope of a new great epic and cinematographic saga, able to compete with the universe of Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings.

Indeed, the universe is well established, the different peoples, characters, creatures, etc… Even if we would like more depth on some aspects. For example, we only see Zendaya for a few minutes at the end of the movie, while I hoped she would be more present in the movie.

Some passages are a bit slow, but it’s quite normal because this first opus is an exposition opus dedicated to introduce the universe and the characters. And this narrative slowness does not necessarily displease everyone.

The casting is incredible, with Timothée Chalamet, perfect in his role of a young teenager of 16 years, yet very charismatic and showing great presence. Chalamet fits into the atmosphere, and his acting through his eyes is already fair and intense, not to mention the fight scenes for which he seemed very skilled and comfortable in the exercise!

Then comes the direction and the photography which is just sublime. With these sandy landscapes, mixed with backlighting, etc., nightfall, and chiaroscuro, the film as a whole remains in a dark atmosphere, especially in the scenes with large parts of FX (sand worms, etc.) to minimize the work of details in the appearance of creatures. But the FXs are also incredible, all the scenes on Arrakis are splendid, and those with the sand worms impressive!

I’m not going to talk about the sets and costumes, which are equally well done. Visually this film is impeccable.

The sound is also successful and has a very large place in this film, without taking over. It simply reinforces this universe and the action scenes, already poignant. We feel perfectly that this music comes from the genius of Hans Zimmer.

This film has immense potential, which I hope will be properly exploited. That’s why I was saying that this movie could compete with sagas such as Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

To Watch or Not to Watch?

To watch, and ideally in a cinema, because it is the only place where the visual and sound experience that is proposed to us can be fully represented.

Finally, the only thing that might not please in this film is that it is a bit slow at times. But this is a necessary thing since it is presented as an exhibition opus.

To explore more of my movie reviews, click here! You can also access all my content by checking this page.

If you liked the story, don’t forget to clap, comment, and maybe follow me if you want to explore more of my content :)

You can also subscribe to me via email to be notified every time I publish a new story, just click here!

If you’re not subscribed to Medium yet and wish to support me or get access to all my stories, you can use my link: